Make Stupid Decisions Win Stupid Prizes 

John Wayne said it best: Life is hard.. If you’re stupid, it’s even harder

The dolphins can ride Seeker’s bow pressure wave perfectly! Best video in a long time.

When you design 3d items for print consider breaking them apart into multiple pieces, both to reduce support material and print time, and more importantly to take advantage of the non-isotropic property of the printed material due to the layers.. On that plant holder the hook that goes around the rail could be printed separately, and on it's side (so each layer looks like the letter C) with no support, AND the weak layer interfaces would not have a tendency to break when you flex it on and off the rail.

Wonderful episode Doug! So amazing to see Seeker out on the water and under power of sail. And the colour of that water!! Wow.

Hey. Just a tip on 3d printing. Since you are designing your own parts you should always avoid support structures, its waste of material and time. If you need to split the design into multiple pieces. In this case the lip could be separated from the cup. I avoid supports like the plage...😂

3D printing parts is great. Once you get the slicer settings down pat (like for supports) it will help you a lot. Look at different slicer options as some give you more flexibility than others. Also have a look at different filaments depending on your application different filaments may be better than others. Check your retraction settings. If you go back too much you can end up with cooled filament blocking the hot end and cause what is happening to your prints.

Wishing you smooth sailing & fair weather.

I thought I was having a stroke or something? was the first two minutes all repeat footage from the previous video?- LOL

Ive spent many years on the ocean. The time and effort in this build is amazing. What doug accomplished is amazing. But why reinvent the wheel? Why not a serious marine powerplant? I understand cost but come on you got it Doug. I dont think seeker will ever be fit for serious open water. I think bays and rivers is where she will spend her days and thats ok. Thats where me and my 45' sailboat will retire

Seeing seeker from underwater so clear just floating there was surreal! That was awesome!

They recommend not to wrestle your 3D-print off the print plate while it's still in the printer. Instead remove the (presumably) magnetic print plate first and then remove the printed part (e.g. by flexing the print plate a bit). The reason for this is, that all the fairly hard pulling does the alignment of the printer parts no good.

I watch the dolphins running on the bow of Seeker and I wonder, what is the porpoise?

She’s got a closet full of clothes and shoes worn once meanwhile you got lures that get used many times a day/week/month/year that cost a fraction of one pair of shoes and she will be bitter. A man’s peace is priceless…

You could also fill the little boats panels with closed cell foam, that way they float, take a lot more beating and will be vastly stronger!

The thump up is for the beautiful dolphins swimming with your 'shark' and your amazing effort. Not for the broken, ughh... back to work.

Are you still getting plenty of fresh water from rainfall?

Those failed prints can be recovered by using calipers to measure the amount that was already printed and removing that area from the 3D model. Print the remainder of the print and glue the 2 parts together using an adhesive ideal for the material you are using. Superglue for PLA and 2 part plumbing adhesive for ABS

The Chinese have been using Bamboo for battens for thousands of years. Granted not as high tech or sexy as aluminum, but much more forgiving and easy to fix with zip ties or wire wrapping if one fails under load. Aluminum, especially light weight aluminum does not live happily ever after in a salt water environment.

The Tree supports have been the best thing since 3D printing! I've never had a problem with them. But like everything 3D printing, ya just have to do what works for you!!

What is the fastest you have sailed so far and what was the wind speed? What kind of fuel consumption are you seeing when motoring?

Every time I see dolphins I recall the skit on saturday night live with gildna radner and the odd relationship of ummmmmm,....... research. I miss her and Gene W.

I know that pvc wasnt cheap!

Its making all those little things that makes life a little easier . Fun watching make these things

Thank you my friends

Starlinks need to be mounted above the radar beam One for performance and two it can cause damage to starlink

I'd have thought the salt spray/mist would be detrimental to Dillon growing?

I really enjoy your show Doug please dont stop taking a us all along with you. That 3D printer is like having your own wishing well. I am very impressed with the stuff you make its so handy.

Fishing rods not poles. Rods are dynamic poles are static. There are such things as fishing poles.

I play around with sailboats a lot and I have an idea for you if you haven't already thought of it. This might take some experimentation, but if you could rig up a large bungee on your preventer to take some of the shock out and maybe save the spars to give you time to release. Just an idea.

Hey Doug, master of most things metal, is it possible to bend silicon bronze? We're working on a winter project list and yup it involves chainplates. Thanks for your time and any input you can share with us. Jeff and Julie s/v OoLaLa Westsail32 hull#81

Yep, a wise man once told me; Life's tough, you gotta chew harder sometimes. Another one I was reminded of recently; If you have to eat a shit sandwich, don't nibble. Great video. Cheers!

Hey Doug, what ever happened to the glowing orb in the dragons mouth nav lights?

26:27 😊 I used to close my seacock every time I left the boat until the engine was overheated several times for then on the key went on the seacock handle

If I was interested in coming aboard for a day to help with things around the boat, is that something you let people do and what is the preferred method of communication? I have welding, carpentry and general mechanical knowledge.

For 3D print repair. Soldering Iron will often put broken lines back together better than glue, certainly quicker at tacking the parts in the right position, On AbS i loved mixing tolulene with excess ABS the glue there was king. But when i printed PLA i found i liked solder iron melting better than glue. I often design in melt welds when i have to transition around the weak layer lines.

Can you 3d print things which break on your 3d printer? Self replication? Sentience?

Radar or communication that’s what killed the Sheffield I believe 😢

Doug, I've seen a neat solution to retain items from falling out... They used a bungee cord and some screw in eyes and hooks to run a single bungee cord across at 2 heights. It can be disconnected to pull out boxes or larger items and just pulled aside to grab smaller stuff at front. I'm curious if the star link antenna/receiver could be mounted directly above radars operating level to avoid interference, or if not, mounted to mizzenmast or on top of sail hardware so it raises and lowers for access ?

Doug, the trees do tend to cause the filament to get chewed up and stop feeding properly. You should be able to turn off retraction is the support though, it will tend to produce whispy material in the supports when you do but the filament wont get chewed up.

Luv it 👍👍

Love it 😍

I tend to use PETG for my stuff, a good bit of my telescope is made of PETG and intake tube.

looks like doug is ready for an extruder upgrade... get a bondtech and fuggedaboudit.

Once welded you could do a few wraps of fiberglass on that boom around the highest load area near the mast. Light weight way to add some strength and chafe protection

Let me know if you are still in Tampa Bay i live in Tampa Bay area and would love to come visit.

Aye red rope tags , remove before flight ✈️ in aircraft.

Move star link on top of the stern mask or stern rail ? ? Or will the cables be to far to work ? Separation the answer?

That would be "feathering" the prop.

😎

Great video. Dolphins, history, 3D printing trials and successes, crystal clear water, Andy, some good eating, StarLnk/radar.

Need to add propellor pitch to your checklist

Your having to much fun with that toy making toys🤠

ya i think its the heat with the pla iI have had parts bend in sunlight

Doug, Does it matter if you have the battens crossing the mast or on the leeward side of the mast? I saw how the two sides of the sail were pushing on opposite sides of the mast and wondered if that wouldn't create a point load and bend the battens. Of course the alternative would place all of the force on the ropes holding the battens to the mast. But I thought that might allow a more gradual bowing of the battens rather than the single hard point. Never sailed a gaff but pulling on the mast seems better ( for some reason) than pushing against it.

Your filament is wet you need to dry it.

from what I understand, the Star Link charges more while you are underway. Some other sailing channels I watch just put the Star Link away on passage and then use it once they get there.

Wrap that boom spot in fiberglass. Like a 2nd Gen late 1990s hockey stick

That is a great view of the dolphins

The trees should be bagged up but on sell from railroad model tree. They will itt

Loved every moment of this video, well done SV Seeker crew.

That water is beautiful, I guess from the land or shore we don't see it being that being that clear. Any shark sightings?

Speaking of reflective surfaces, when I was a kid, we messed around with launching giant hot air balloons without permits. I built giant fireboxes made out of aluminum foil fueled with Cube-Lite (no longer made), a petroleum 1" cube that burned until used up. We let it go in an alcove and the wind sheer rolled it upside down and the flame emitting from the fire box cut the balloon in half and turned that large fire box on its side. We figured it would come down, but it didn't. The balloon, originally shaped like a football, now looked like a giant double D bra with a jet engine below it. It stalled over a reservoir spillway and the wind currents had it flying in big squares. Then the police helicopter showed up, attracted by the large reflective metal bottom of the firebox (I think). We pretended to be fishing. The helicopter flew around and over it trying to blow it down, but instead they just knocked it out of its stall and it flew up into the atmosphere somewhere. Never saw it again. Thankfully, no one had video phones back then.

You might need to get a filament dryer. You are in a very humid environment! Damp filament don't print fer shit!

I'm guessing your next ship is going to be 3-D printed. In a way, all that electronic gear is taking the thrilling uncertainty and satisfying skill out of sailing. Your nose, ears, eyes and experience were the gear in da old days.

My stupid trophy shelf is full, 😂😂😂😂

Try Orca Slicer

Cracking content as always Doug. Thanks

Maybe Starlink will work if you put the antenna on the main mast.

Hey just an idea why don't you use carbon fiber battens!

letting go, yea, that's the most effective prescription for depression, anxiety, anger, remorse, and resentment.

Hand lines

Doug, on that cylindrical piece I would print that on it's end which makes the layer lines run around the curve not across it, and then it would print faster because it would require no support. Then just glue it to the back of the pot.

Maybe the starlink would be happier at the top of the main mast? Or the radar, but I would guess the wobbling/tilting/rocking at that height would be distracting for it.

Just curious, how are you keeping the filament dry in such high humidity?

Screws are too short

I make my own lurers. Lot cheaper.

What can you do to get rid of the radar/Starlink interference?

I had some feed issues with my Makerbot 3d printer I ended up kicking up the extruder temp it made it flow easier, IDK if it would help you but you might have fun farting around with it.

If you have a functioning radar on your vessel you are required to have it on and functioning.

Nice one Doug. Will be cool to track Seeker on the Garmin site. Thanks.

I FINALLY got a roof on my shop. I'm going to get out there and make something!

As clean as the surface is at the supports. It's clear you can run the print without any supports.

In the 3d printer slicer you can limit the amount of retractions in a given section of the filament (moving window max number of retractions). Or just simply disable retractions. That will solve your filament grinding issue.

It looks like you hot end cooling fan isn't able to keep up. The filament is thicker than it should be, into where the hot end heatsink is. Which I would think is the reason for the drive gear issue. Try reducing your retracts down to .4 mm if higher. I don't have never had that issue. I also only print in air conditioned air. What are your chamber temps? Opening the door might help.

Finding your way in 3d printing. The print failure was a jam. Once cleared, look at seasoning the throat with a hi temp oil like avocado or olive, canola in a pinch. And make sure the heat sink fan has not taken a hair or filament whisp onto the blades slowing it down and causing heat creep to cause a jam.....

Hi, I always have problems with my 3D printer when the ambient room temperature gets above the mid 80's. It causes nozzle jamming, stopping the filament infeed.

13:28 The trip is the thing, as much as the destination. Ive been following your build for as long as you've been building SV Seeker. I'm watching now with a year or more of episode gaposis. Please forgive me if I just could not follow so many failure and tries and more tries. To success of course. Here you are on the water, ready to design / make your way to the horizon and next port. I am a retired machinist of 40 years, some hi-tec some industrial repair (read fishing boats). So it is not that I don't have a love of machinery. Keep on seeking Doug. -clay

He Doug, Awesome Video Really Enjoyed it. When transferring fuel i always set a timer. Just in case i get side tracked and forget about it. like i did that one time.... lol

I knew you were in the area and swore I saw seekers' outline yesterday off Coquina beach but thought "it couldn't be". Just checked you're Garmin today and it was you!

Are the Dolphins messin around at 9:53? Nice to know the printer doesn't have to be absolutely level to operate.

Dolphin's love boats, it is like they found a new playmate!

I include a pice of thin cord as a weak link whenever I rig a preventer. On my boat if there is ever a lot of weight on the preventer probably the best outcome is for it to break and the sail gybe. A thin piece of cord is very cheap and quick to replace too. My boat is a lot smaller and lighter though. Happy sailing.

Yeah, black PLA for something going in the sun is not gonna work. It gets very soft at fairly low temperatures.

Developing checklist for sail handling , all positive life experiences. Aye far better lessons in calms seas that’s certain, then in a gale . Errrr

Great episode Doug. From an old armchair explorer.

Just spent a couple days at fort DeSoto. Didn't go out to Egmont this time. Awesome to see you there

for that scoop looking thing you kept trying to print, I would make one side of it entirely flat, ie the outside circle into a square, and print it on the side, that way you can avoid needed supports on that big overhang. even turning the outside to a hex/octagon would make printing on its side very easy. my guess as to why the trees kept messing up is that you have a lot of retractions going on with very little filament extruded. a retractions is when the print pulls a little bit of the filament up so that the nozzle doesn't ooze and leave boogers on things while it moves position to position. so the teeth on the extruder are basically going back and forth over the same little section of filament and flattening it out like you see. there should be settings like "retraction speed" "retraction distance" "wipe" "disable retractions" and lots of others that you can fiddle with to prevent that in the future.

Build a car, a plane, a boat and leaving with it, has been the dreams of every little kid. As we grow older we realize how unfeasible this is. Then comes Doug Jackson that shows you it's not true at all. Your adventures are fantastic.♥

Slicer problems, I have that happen from time to time and do not know what it is. Update and do restarts to the pc. Wait you were in IT, well we can't have the campfire chat on the boat.

Yep you was just over working the filament the drive wheel rolls over the same place so many time it will flatten the filament and cause it to jam. You can try to lower the wheel pressure but if your unit runs great I recommend just not using that many stops and start